Author: Justin

LANGBA – PenesamiG

In my previous post, I spoke of “fake brand name knockoffs that are loosely based on a famous item but a little too ironically so, giving you the impression that the person who designed it did so as an inside joke or something…” This is more precisely what I meant:
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This is not your average copper top.

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These crappy and frankly, dangerous (look at the insane bulging on the rightmost one – they came this way!) Chinese knockoffs were bundled with a couple of LCD flashlights I took camping a few weeks ago.
The term “mutant knockoffs” has been coined for products like these.
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LINKAGE: Fake Products: Mutant Knock-offs on flickr

Justin of America – Justin Jeans?

Sometimes, a sign just hits you in the face:
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Spotted in Khon Kaen, Thailand

Somebody painted my ass on a sign!
We’ve actually spotted Justin Jeans apparel – mostly t-shirts and sweatshirts – at cheap night markets, but not the actual jeans. The clothes we saw were of the extremely cheap variety, made of the thinnest cotton poly blend, designed so badly as to be unappealing anywhere but the poorest corners of the third world. Kind of like those fake brand name knockoffs that are loosely based on a famous item but a little too ironically so, giving you the impression that the person who designed it did so as an inside joke or something… Anyway, this got me to thinking and I half-assedly searched for the brand name of origin since I had never heard of Justin Jeans back in the states. I found this:

South Beach, a division of Sweat Shirt USA, Inc., will design, manufacture, market and sell the Justin Jeans line. The collection will debut for fall/winter 1993 and is described by Justin as a “contemporary line of American sportswear with a Western flair.”

1993? I assume from the lack of obvious search hits that Justin Jeans is defunct in the states… What if Justin Jeans live on only as tragically poor knockoffs in SE Asia? That’s like the coolest thing I’ve ever heard.
I also like the fact that my ass is famous now. Does that qualify me as a sex symbol? Justin Timberlake has nothing on me… I’m the Big Papa of Asian Americans teaching English in SE Asia, bioootches!

Happy Thanksgiving!

… words heard from not a single student today.
Surprise, surprise.
I think I’ve actually seen a real live turkey here in Mahasarakham, up in the forest near the fish sanctuary, but I’m too lazy to be bothered with the killin’ and pluckin’ and dressin’ and stuffin’ and roastin’ – Thanksgiving to me is more of a “Thanksgetting.” Getting stuffed and drowsy off the tryptophan (I choose to believe in the sleepy turkey effect. Even if it’s a placebo, it still makes me feel nice, you haters.) kicks ass. Candied yams and gravy kick ass. Even cranberry sauce tends to kick some ass, in moderation. Maybe what I miss most, though, is pumpkin pie. I swear I haven’t had a decent slice of pumpkin pie with freshly whipped cream for five or six years. “So,” you ask, “how does one cope with the lack of proper pilgrim food on Turkey Day?”
If living in Japan for twelve years taught me anything, it was coping skills.
If living in Japan for twelve years taught me anything, it was three letters: K F C
That’s right, Nam and I just came back from the only place in town to get mashed potatoes, cheesy fries, and New! Bite-sized! Spicy! Fish Bits.
HAPPY TURKEY DAY!

this post really should be on twitter, but then it wouldn’t be in my archives….

Don’t you just hate that?
By effectively limiting entry size, Twitter makes you choose your words, which is a good thing… Sometimes too good, I think, because I end up using up all my (limited) wit over there. My blog is jealous, and rightly so. Now to the heart of this post:
There were two sea kayaks and sets of life jackets on the floor of the men’s room at school this morning. I briefly resisted the brief urge to test their precipitation resistance.